All posts in Taft

Who Is…William Carlos Williams? Our Perceptions of Things

This week had Taft 7th Graders trying their hand at the short Imagist style poetry, as in William Carlos William’s The Locust Tree In Flower. I had them listen to the First Version as […]

Hanging Whaaaaat? Details in Our Worries

This week we took a brave leap while examining our overall theme of, ‘Writer Who Are You: Identity Through Poetry.’ We looked at our own worries (or lack of) beginning with Audre Lorde’s poem, […]

You talkin’ to me? Looking At Our Lives Through Personification

Our fourth week had us looking at personification and the use of the vernacular in Frank O’Hara’s A True Account of Talking To the Sun At Fire Island, where the poet has a conversation […]

Like You: Looking At Our Lives Through Simile

For our 3rd Lesson, we started with a game. Students were broken up into groups, given random index cards with various words which might make up a string of simile. To the best of […]

Chew On This: How What We Eat Informs and Inspires

Ms. Munoz’s 7th Grade class took a bite out of poetry this week by reading Li-Young Lee’s, From Blossoms. We focused our discussion around the student’s favorite foods. Tastes ranged from cultural family favorites […]

Sounds…& The City

Ms. Munoz’s 7th Grade class began their exploration with the theme of: ‘Writer, Who Are You?: Identity Through Poetry” with a reading of Lucille Clifton’s deceptively, simple poem, in the inner city. We looked […]

#sorrynotsorry

This week found us looking at Martín Espada’s “I Apologize for Giving You Poison Ivy by Smacking You in the Eye with the Crayfish at the End of My Fishing Line.” I love that […]

Grow Up!

Today’s workshop was inspired by Sharon Olds’ “Rite of Passage” which traces the roots of how young people grow up into their possible personalities. So the 8th graders looked back on their long lives […]

There’s a First Time for Everythang

This week the 8th graders of Taft read Tim Seibles’s amazing simile explosion “First Kiss.” This poem shows not just the power of a simile, but how it can serve the poem with energy […]

Happy Valentimes!

Every day can be Valentine’s Day if you have love in your heart! Or at least if you have me as a teacher. We read and responded to Naomi Shihab Nye’s “Valentine for Ernest […]

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I’M FROM THE CITY LIGHTS / STREAMING OUT IN THE NIGHT / AND HUGE SKYSCRAPERS / TOWERING OVER THE LAKE – MELISSA E., 7TH GRADE POET